The response from the Trump administration to the Coronavirus outbreak in the U.S., which has claimed more than 2,200 lives across the U.S. and counting, has been chaotic at best. This weekend, top Trump economic adviser Larry Kudlow appeared on ABC’s This Week to discuss the administration’s attempts to offset some of the economic toll of attempting to stem the spread of the Coronavirus, and during his appearance, he alternated between clinging to the massive financial relief package as supposed hope for struggling American families and admitting — in stark contrast to Trump’s own remarks — that the ongoing crisis could last for “months.”
The latest Coronavirus relief package, which the president signed into law recently, includes billions upon billions of dollars in support for businesses across the country and provisions for expanded unemployment benefits and even direct checks to large swaths of Americans. Kudlow zeroed in on those latter provisions when asked for his message to people struggling through the outbreak. He commented:
‘It’s going to be the biggest assistance package in history… Safety comes first, but we’re doing the best we can. We got a $6.2 trillion assistance package, and just some of the quick factoids: we’re basically going to be providing significant assistance to 175 million people. 175 million people — roughly $600 billion is allocated to that… We’re trying to keep folks working. We’re trying to let them have enough assistance to get through daily, family needs.’
Watch below:
Asked for his message to those worried about the economy, Pres. Trump's top econ adviser Larry Kudlow says: "We got a $6.2T assistance package…I think it's going to give tremendous resources to get us through what we still believe is going to be a question of weeks and months." pic.twitter.com/CjQs3sO7rP
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) March 29, 2020
It’s worth noting that Kudlow’s attempt to say, you know, something contrasts strikingly with Trump’s own recent belligerent freakout when asked by NBC reporter Peter Alexander for his own message to scared Americans. At the time, Trump lashed out at Alexander as a supposed “terrible reporter,” suggesting that Trump took the notion of struggling Americans as an insult to his ego.
This weekend, Kudlow added that the situation will be “what we still believe is going to be a question of weeks and months,” which contrasts significantly with the proclamations from President Trump about supposedly angling to get the U.S. economy rolling again by Easter. Host Martha Raddatz zeroed in on this point, asking how — if at all — he could “be sure that this economic tragedy won’t be longterm if there’s no guarantee that people will have jobs to return to.”
Kudlow admitted in response:
‘It could be four weeks; it could be eight weeks. I say that hopefully, and I say that prayerfully. That’s what some of the science experts have been telling us. Don’t know if they’ll be right. Let me just say this — you can’t have a good job, unless you have a healthy business… I can’t guarantee it. I can’t wave a magic wand; I wish I could — this virus, nobody expected this thing to come down as far and as hard and as widespread as it did.’
Watch:
.@MarthaRaddatz: "How can you be sure that this economic tragedy won't be longterm if there's no guarantee that people will have jobs to return to?"
Larry Kudlow: "I can't guarantee it. I wish I could." https://t.co/oDvaWkxus6 pic.twitter.com/cxu1V4gSeb
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) March 29, 2020
The president’s top economic adviser metaphorically throwing their hands up isn’t exactly reassuring.
So far, the economic cost of the Coronavirus outbreak has been devastating. Millions upon millions of Americans have newly filed for unemployment benefits amidst the rush to close businesses like restaurants that could facilitate the spread of the virus.
